The state is awarding $10.1 million in grants for municipalities to build or upgrade their fiber networks.
The funding comes from the Municipal Fiber Grant Program, which aims to help cities and towns establish or complete their fiber networks, according to a community announcement. The program supports communities in improving their technology infrastructure and enhancing cybersecurity capabilities.
“Our Municipal Fiber grants are helping cities and towns across Massachusetts build the modern technology infrastructure they need to better serve residents,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “These investments will help communities strengthen cybersecurity, improve emergency preparedness, modernize local government operations, and make it easier for people to access services online.”
The grants will enable communities to develop local fiber networks and fill gaps in existing municipal networks, supporting more secure and reliable technology systems.
The announcement states that the networks can improve cybersecurity, enable more responsive disaster recovery and make it easier for residents to access local government services online. Additionally, shared municipal networks can help communities save money by combining internet service and cybersecurity needs across multiple public facilities, rather than managing them individually.
Smaller and rural municipalities lacking resources for IT needs are expected to benefit most from these grants.
“Building and upgrading technology infrastructure can be difficult for communities with limited resources, and this program is one way that our Administration helps to fill those gaps,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a statement.
The grant recipient list is as follows:
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Acton: $250,000 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Barnstable: $250,000 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Belchertown: $487,313 for creating a municipality-owned municipal fiber network that benefits Belchertown, Wilbraham and Palmer;
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Belmont: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Bourne: $235,000 for interconnecting town facilities;
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Braintree: $250,000 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network for public safety departments;
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Brewster: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Chatham: $208,000 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Chicopee: $226,480 for adding redundancy to the city’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Dalton: $17,294 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Easthampton: $191,718 for expanding the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Easton: $206,197 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Falmouth: $27,900 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Granville: $420,321 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network that supports Granville and Tolland;
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Groveland: $250,000 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Hanover: $249,950 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Holland: $180,000 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Lee: $244,598 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Lenox: $225,698 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Littleton: $250,000 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Longmeadow: $60,000 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Maynard: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Millbury: $229,293 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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New Bedford: $147,724 for expanding the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Newton: $218,708 for addressing critical infrastructure gaps;
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Norfolk: $218,500 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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North Adams: $236,264 for creating a city-owned municipal fiber network;
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North Reading: $245,492 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network;
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Oxford: $162,000 for installing a municipally owned fiber-optic network to connect two public safety radio repeater sites;
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Pittsfield: $237,459 for expanding the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Provincetown: $250,000 for building a GPON (GIG Passive Optic Network) off the existing middle-mile fiber network;
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Raynham: $250,000 for securing the SCADA system onto dark fiber in a closed loop;
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Rockport: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Rowley: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Salem: $243,746 for expanding the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Scituate: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Sharon: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Spencer: $76,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Stoughton: $172,085 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Sudbury: $124,320 for adding redundancy to the town’s existing municipal fiber network;
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Taunton: $114,000 for expanding the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Wareham: $250,000 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Westfield: $89,486 for expanding the city’s existing fiber optic infrastructure;
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Westport: $237,500 for expanding the town’s existing fiber optic infrastructure.
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Williamstown: $454,181 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network that benefits Williamstown, Mount Greylock Regional School District and Lanesborough.
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Wrentham: $168,103 for creating a town-owned municipal fiber network.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
This article originally appeared on wickedlocal.com: MA state grants help towns upgrade fiber networks
